SM CASE FILES
by lillyankh
Summary: There are some things in this world that we were never meant to understand.


It's a day late, but I wrote this for Halloween. You don't need to know anything about Slenderman to understand it, but you should totally look him up after you've read this.

(also, the next chapter of John Watson Versus the World will be posted this afternoon)

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FILE: SM CASE TRANSCRIPTS  
CLEARANCE: MAXIMUM  
CONTENTS: 4 DOCUMENTS

USERNAME: #mholmes439  
PASSWORD: *****************

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RETINAL SCAN POSITIVE  
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ACCESSING...

DOCUMENT 1  
Transcript of audio file 'dict.1'  
Original file from: Scotland Yard Archives  
Date: 19/10/2010  
Interviewer: Detective Inspector Gregory Lestrade (GL)  
Present: Mr Sherlock Holmes (SH), Dr Marie Blackwood (MB)  
Location: St Anne's Psychiatric Institute

SH: What date did you say it was?

GL: Sorry?

SH: When you recorded the date. You said it was the nineteenth.

[pause]

GL: What date do you think it is, Sherlock?

[pause]

GL: How many days have you lost?

SH: I ... I had anticipated that I had been here two or three days, however long it took for the drugs to wear off.

GL: Drugs?

SH: Yes, Lestrade, drugs. Whatever the murderer I have been pursuing gave me to induce a psychosis-like state and have me committed. Where is John? Was he also institutionalised?

GL: Would I be correct in saying that the last thing you remember is the morning of October the third?

SH: You're avoiding my questions.

GL: You're avoiding mine.

[long pause]

SH: Why am I here?

GL: [sighs] You weren't drugged. You suffered a complete psychotic break. We had you hospitalised for a few days, and when it seemed like you weren't going to recover for a while, we moved you here. You then progressed to a catatonic stupor. This morning, you came out of it and demanded to see me. I thought – I thought you wanted to talk about what happened.

SH: What did happen? What caused this 'psychotic break' of mine?

[very long pause]

GL: Is it alright to tell him if he doesn't remember?

SH: Tell me what?

MB: Normally, I wouldn't recommend it. I'd prefer he came to terms with it himself. But I do understand that these are exceptional circumstances.

SH: Tell me _what_, Lestrade?

[pause]

GL: John is dead, Sherlock. He was murdered, brutally, in front of you. Most likely by the man you have been trying to catch. You were attacked too – no doubt you've noticed the injuries-

SH: [quiet] I hadn't, actually.

MB: That's probably part of the repression.

GL: Look, I'm sorry, Sherlock. But I need to know what you were investigating that day. Even if – even if you can't remember what happened to John, you must have deduced enough for the murderer to consider you a threat. Did you work out who he was? Did you find any evidence we can use?

SH: Are there pictures? Photographs of the crime scene?

GL: Uh, yeah, here [rustling] Standard SOC photos, plus some from the camera of the woman who found you. Are you sure you want to see them? They're ... not exactly pleasant.

SH: Show me! I have to _see_, see if he's _there_-

GL: The murderer? You think we might have caught him on film? [rustling] We went through them ourselves. Can you see anything we missed?

[pause]

GL: Sherlock?

[pause]

GL: Sherlock?

[long pause]

GL: Hello?

MB: Mr Holmes, can you hear me? [clicking] Pupils unresponsive, no reaction to pain … I'm sorry, Inspector; we've lost him again.

GL: [sighs] No, I'm sorry. [rustling] I shouldn't have come here. It's just … he's our best chance, and there's been eight more murders and we still haven't got a clue.

MB: What about the woman you mentioned? The one who found them? Could she have seen anything?

GL: We don't know. She's in room 71.

MB: Oh.

-end of document-

DOCUMENT 2  
Transcript of audio file 'dict.3'  
Original file from: Scotland Yard Archives  
Date: 25/10/2010  
Interviewer: Detective Inspector Gregory Lestrade (GL)  
Present: Mr Sherlock Holmes (SH), Dr Marie Blackwood (MB), Nurse Timothy Bains (TB)  
Location: St Anne's Psychiatric Institute

GL: How have you been?

[pause]

GL: Yes, alright, that was a bit of a stupid question. I hear you stabbed a nurse during Art Therapy.

SH: She was asking too many questions. Told me to use the paintbrush to deal with my problems.

GL: The worrying thing is, that sounds like something you'd do.

[pause]

SH: Is there a reason you came here, or are you just making awkward conversation?

GL: I, ah, I wanted to ask you a few things. [rustling] We went to your flat and got your notes on the case, but they're … well, incomprehensible. I was wondering if you could talk me through them, but I don't want to upset you.

SH: I'll be fine.

GL: Are you sure? I won't get shanked with a spork or something?

SH: I'll only do that if you _leave_. I'm rotting in here, Lestrade. There are _things_ crawling in my mind, hiding in the empty places. I can _hear_ them. I need stimulation or it'll kill me.

GL: Uh...

MB: He wants to be distracted, Inspector. He likes being given things to think about, including the case he was working on before. As long as you don't try to make him access specifically repressed memories, he's stable.

GL: OK, well, if there's anything you don't want to talk about, you let me know. [rustling] Right, so you had photos of previous murders, which I got, but why did you have the meteorological data? Does he strike during certain weather conditions?

SH: Fog.

GL: He attacks during fog?

SH: No, he _is_ the fog. It shrouds him, poisoning the air so you lose your way, lose your mind...

[pause]

GL: So he attacks during fog. Now, you had a couple of maps with pins in them. The red pins are murder locations. What are the blue pins for?

SH: Children.

GL: Ch-children? There haven't been any children murdered-

SH: That's because he doesn't kill them. He _takes_ them.

GL: Jesus Christ, we had no idea … There were at least twenty blue pins on that map.

SH: Thirty-two.

GL: How do you know it was him?

SH: It's what he does. Sometimes, the fog comes and nobody is killed, but someone is taken. Always children. He calls them to him.

GL: God. I'm – I'm going to have to check that, but if you're right [swallows] Why didn't you tell me?

SH: I wasn't sure. There was insufficient data. I had to confirm … something … it – the fog …

GL: What was-

MB: I wouldn't ask him that. He's getting agitated.

SH: I do wish you wouldn't talk about me like I'm some animal at the zoo.

GL: Uh, yes, anyway, don't worry about that. There was something else I wanted to talk about. I found this thing in German, and it's been a while since O Levels, but I think it says 'He comes from the trees, he searches, the Slen-'

SH: _You must not speak his name!_

GL: I – what?

SH: If you ever, _ever_ listened to me, ever trusted my judgement, you _must not_ say that name. Do you understand?

GL: You found out who it was? You found the name of the murderer?

SH: Lestrade, _please_, of all the police officers I've worked with, you always seemed the most competent. If you have even one ounce of self-preservation, you will do as I say. Keep investigating if you must. Find his patterns and use that to warn people when he is likely to strike. But do not pursue him, and never, ever say his name.

[pause]

GL: I'm so sorry, Sherlock. I should have thought. That's what happened to you, isn't it? You worked out who he was, and he tried to – to silence you.

SH: Look at me, Lestrade. There are possibly two people in the world who can even _think_ about matching my intellect. And now there are whispers in my skin and I can't go outside without having a panic attack because there are some things on this earth that even my mind cannot comprehend.

GL: It's OK. We'll stop him. We'll make sure this never happens again.

SH: No! You idiot! Nobody can stop him because he isn't _human!_ Even J- even John couldn't-

MB: Sherlock, you need to calm down. You don't have to do this.

SH: Yes I do. I have to make him _understand_. We thought – I thought we could track it, find out what caused the fog, I thought it was safe. There was something wrong, I was scared, I'm never scared, John wouldn't listen, he laughed at me, he _changed_, something inside him, I saw it-

MB: Sherlock, please-

[loud crack]

TB: Are you alright?

MB: [muffled] I don't think he broke it.

SH: Stay away! You're all contaminated, I can see it! He's there, behind your eyes!

MB: Tim, can you hold him down while I sedate him?

[sounds of a struggle]

MB: I think it might be better if you leave, Inspector.

[banging]

SH: No! Stop it! He'll find me if I sleep!

-end of document-

DOCUMENT 3  
Transcript of surveillance file 'glhome.86'  
Original file from: Telephone tap  
Date: 26/10/2010  
Time: 07:32  
Speakers: Detective Inspector Gregory Lestrade (GL), Dr Marie Blackwood (MB)

GL: Hello?

MB: Hi, is that Inspector Lestrade? It's Dr Blackwood, from St Anne's. You told me to call if anything happened.

GL: Oh, yeah, hi. What can I do for you?

[pause]

MB: Sherlock tried to kill himself last night.

GL: _What?_

MB: It was … ingenious, in a way. We have all sorts of procedures for this sort of thing, especially in violent patients.

GL: What did he do?

MB: He broke his own neck. We're still not sure how. He's alive, though, and conscious. We've got him in a brace and under observation.

GL: Jesus. At least he survived.

MB: Yes.

[pause]

MB: He hasn't stopped talking since we stabilised him. I thought you might be able to use some of what he said, so I've been writing it down...

GL: That's very good of you, thanks. I'll come and have a look at it.

MB: It's – I've [sighs] Do you know how long I've had this job? Thirteen years. I've seen hundreds of patients who have had traumatic experiences. But with Sherlock … you know the expression 'there's method in his madness'? It's Shakespeare.

GL: Yeah, I know it.

MB: I've never seen anyone who fits that better than him. It's like he's speaking some kind of code, and if we can crack it then we'll understand everything that happened. It's clear that he's demonised the murderer, seeing him as some kind of supernatural monster, but there's a consistent theme and coherency to what he says. I don't know, maybe I'm starting to lose it myself.

GL: Can you elaborate a bit?

MB: Well, since Sherlock was committed here, I've been reading about the murders. Most victims, including John Watson, were murdered during fog in wooded or grassy areas, yes?

GL: Yeah, and all their organs were removed and then put back again. Some were impaled on trees. We're still trying to work out how he did that.

MB: Sherlock's been saying that this … creature, whatever he thinks it is, comes from the trees, or out of the ground, bringing a fog with him. He says that the victims 'open themselves like flowers to the sun' and that something in the fog makes them go to him.

GL: OK...

MB: Do you remember yesterday, how he said he was scared and John was laughing? I think that the murderer has some sort of gas, and he waits until it's already foggy so you don't notice and breathe it in. Wooded areas have bad visibility and there'd be fewer people around, too.

GL: That's … certainly an angle I hadn't thought about pursuing. If that's true, he'd have to buy some pretty serious chemicals somewhere. We could probably trace them. That doesn't make you crazy, Marie.

MB: That … wasn't the crazy bit.

GL: Oh?

[pause]

MB: When Sherlock was ranting, he kept asking to talk to me alone. It isn't exactly procedure, but I made sure he was secure and couldn't hurt himself or me, then sent the other doctors outside.

GL: And what did he say?

MB: I … I had to lean right down, so he could whisper into my ear. He told me that the murderer is looking for something when he opens up his victims, something that's inside them, but he never finds it. And then he said... he said...

[long pause]

MB: He said that the murderer found it inside _him_.

[pause]

GL: You're right. That is crazy.

MB: I know it is. But … Sherlock is the only victim who was left alive. And he _does_ have a scar from sternum to pelvis, like he'd been opened up.

GL: The murderer was just interrupted, that's all. It's bloody good that he was, too, because we wouldn't stand a hope in Hell of catching him without Sherlock's help. Has he said anything else important?

MB: Um, I'm not sure if the rest is significant. He keeps talking about 'too many limbs' and how the murderer is so tall and slender, but I don't know how much of that is his mind trying to cope.

GL: Well, I'll still come and pick up th-

MB: [screams]

GL: What happened? Are you alright?

[pause]

MB: [breathing heavily] Yes, yes, I'm fine. Sorry. I think a bird flew into my window.

GL: It's OK. We're all a bit highly strung at the moment.

MB: [laughs] Just a tad.

GL: So I'll come and pick up your notes today, yes?

MB: Yes, that's fine.

GL: Will I be able to talk to Sherlock?

MB: I'd give him a few days. Wait until he's not on suicide watch.

GL: Sure, sure. So I'll see you later?

MB: Yes. Thank you, Inspector.

GL: Greg, please.

MB: Alright, Greg. Later, then.

GL: You've been a great help. Bye.

MB: Bye.

-end of document-

DOCUMENT 4  
Transcript of audio file 'dict.7  
Original file from: Project Samhain Archives  
Date: 1/11/2010  
Interviewer: Detective Inspector Gregory Lestrade (GL)  
Present: Mr Sherlock Holmes (SH), Dr Anthony Stevens (AS), Nurse Timothy Bains (TB)  
Location: St Anne's Psychiatric Institute

SH: OK, you're recording, now answer my question. Who said it?

GL: Who said what?

SH: Don't be dense. You know what I mean. Someone said his name. It wasn't you – you've got enough of a superstitious streak in you to actually heed my warnings, especially after she went missing. So who said it?

GL: How did – oh, fine. Donovan. She thought I was being ridiculous.

SH: And when did she start hearing noises at night?

GL: She hasn't mentioned anything.

SH: Hmm.

GL: Sherlock, we've been looking into the Sle – the mythos behind this name. It's a ghost story on the Internet. Bunch of people making creepy pictures on Photoshop.

SH: I discovered that, too.

GL: Yeah, I noticed that one of your little scraps of paper had a few forum usernames on it – Victor Surge, ce gars, that kind of thing.

SH: Those two are the same person.

GL: I know. I also know he's dead – hanged himself just after the first series of murders was reported. Couldn't deal with what he'd caused, perhaps? It's pretty clear that the murderer is heavily inspired by these stories.

SH: Or the stories are inspired by him.

GL: [sighs] I'm tired of this, Sherlock. I _know_ you've been through a lot, and I _know_ this is your way of coping, but we _have_ to find out who this guy is. There have been ninety-eight deaths and disappearances related to this case, thirty-seven of whom were children. One of my officers was found dead last night. It has to stop. Please, if there is anything left of your sanity in there, tell me what you saw. Tell me who did this.

SH: You aren't going to like it.

GL: Try me.

SH: They do it to themselves.

GL: Excuse me?

SH: He never touches them. Not at first. He just _watches_ as they slice open their stomachs. It was John who – who cut me, and he cut himself as well. Then he just … laid there. Bleeding out, waiting to be _examined_. I … I tried to help him.

[long pause]

GL: That's not possible. Even with drugs, they can't all have done the same thing.

SH: Believe what you must; I know what happened.

GL: And what about you? Why weren't you examined?

SH: I was.

GL: You – oh, yes, you told Marie. He _found_ something.

SH: He did. Isn't it wonderful? All this time, he's been searching, and it was in _me._

GL: What did he find?

SH: Uh-uh. I'm not allowed to tell.

GL: Oh, for_ fucks_ sake. Please, I am literally begging you. Stop with the monster stuff. This is beyond a joke now.

AS: I'll have to ask you to stop antagonising my patient, Inspector Lestrade.

GL: Oh, just shut up! Christ, I'm going to end up locked in here myself if this guy doesn't start answering my questions and stop talking about fucking_ Slenderman!_

[pause]

SH: [laughs] Oh. Oh _yes_. There it is.

GL: [sighs] What? Are you happy that I've finally said the name now?

SH: Of course. It's what we were waiting for.

GL: We?

SH: You should never have made me remember, Lestrade. You should have left me to die in here. And, above all, you should _never_ have said that name to me. Because now … now, he's here. And we're going to have _so much fun_.

-end of document-

END OF FILE

FILE: SM CASE REPORT  
CLEARANCE: MAXIMUM  
CONTENTS: 1 DOCUMENT

ACCESSING...

DOCUMENT 1  
Report on the incident at Saint Anne's Psychiatric Institute.

At 15:24 on November 1st 2010, a fire broke out at the institution. It consumed two-thirds of the building before the emergency services were able to extinguish the flames. Of the 200 patients and 83 staff members present at the time of the fire, 274 were found dead on the scene, all killed by disembowelment prior to immolation. The remaining nine bodies, including that of Sherlock Holmes, who had been investigating SM, were never recovered. Detective Inspector Gregory Lestrade was found decapitated and hanging by his feet from a tree some thirty miles away. A Dictaphone was in his pocket, on which were two recordings; an interview with Sherlock Holmes, and what would appear to be a twenty second recording of screeching metal and screams. It is assumed that this second recording was during the attack. Since this incident, no other murders appear to have been committed by SM.

-end of document-

END OF FILE

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DELETE THE FILES 'SM CASE TRANSCRIPTS' AND 'SM CASE REPORT'?

FILES DELETED

NEW FILE

TITLE: sm  
do not investigate  
there is no more time  
all records have been purged  
projrct samhain cannof b estopped  
never  
say  
his  
name


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